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Building work begins on Materials Research Facility | 13/11/2014

Construction is underway on Culham's Materials Research Facility (MRF), which will equip the UK with an important new capability for examining nuclear reactor materials when it opens in Autumn 2015.

Scientists from universities and industry will use the MRF to examine the effects of irradiation on tiny fragments of material used in fusion and fission machines. Powerful electron microscopes, focused ion beam nano millers and nanoindenters will provide information on the structure and strength of the materials, at scales much smaller than the width of a hair. Some of the equipment is already operating at an existing laboratory on site, where researchers from Bristol, Manchester and Oxford universities have been among the early users. The new building will have hot cells to allow users to process and analyse radioactive material.

The data will be used to make nuclear power stations safer and help to extend the operational life of the existing fleet, as well as informing the design of the future generations of UK fission reactors.

Materials analysis will also be a key activity for the prototype fusion power plant DEMO. Assessing the impact of fast-moving fusion neutrons on samples in the MRF will help develop metals for DEMO's structure that are strong enough to survive for years of fusion power generation.

The MRF is part of the National Nuclear User Facility – a £15 million Government-funded partnership to improve Britain's experimental equipment for nuclear research. It will be accompanied by complementary facilities, including those at the other partners Dalton Cumbrian Facility and the National Nuclear Laboratory.

With work on a new building for Culham's RACE remote handling and robotics centre expected to start soon, the two developments are part of a diversification by CCFE and its parent body the UK Atomic Energy Authority to enable commercial and academic users to benefit from the research at Culham.

Professor Steve Cowley, CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority and Head of CCFE, is pictured at the MRF construction site with senior management and members of the project team. He said:

“This is an exciting project for Culham and for the whole UK nuclear research community. With nuclear new build on the horizon, and the prospect of Generation IV and fusion entering the market later this century, it is vital for Britain to develop a first-class range of research facilities to meet the challenge. The Materials Research Facility will be a big part of that and I can't wait to see it up and running in 2015.”